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Match Report

Report: Wanderers 2 York 0

Bolton Wanderers successfully navigated past a resilient York City side in the third round of the FA Cup courtesy of goals from second half substitutes Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander.

The near 5,000 travelling Minstermen had come in hope of witnessing a giant killing and despite a second half rally they were sent home disappointed after a professional performance from Owen Coyle's men.

Wanderers had to be patient as both sides created a number of chances but ultimately Wanderers' class shone through as Kevin Davies smashed home a loose ball inside the box and Elmander hammered in a spectacular second with just minutes left on the clock.

Manager Coyle made six changes to the starting line-up from the last outing against Wigan, with the most notable inclusion being Tamir Cohen, who returned from a leave of absence following the death of his father.

Also included were Ivan Klasnic, Martin Petrov, Robbie Blake, Marcos Alonso and Adam Bogdan, ass Zat Knight was handed the captain's armband in place of skipper Kevin Davies who took up a place on the bench.

The home side suffered a real scare in the opening five minutes when Ashley Chambers raced onto a through ball during a counter attack from the Minstermen, only for the winger to opt to try and unselfishly pick out Michael Rankine when a shot on goal was surely the better option.Chambers was right at the heart of the action against just minutes later slaloming his way through a couple of challenges on the right flank before flashing an effort wide of Bogdan's near post.

Bolton's best chance in the early throes of the game fell to Cohen. The Israeli was teed-up by Klasnic on the edge of the area but his left-footed effort was miss-hit over the crossbar.

Rodrigo was asking all the questions of the York defence early on. The on loan Benfica man was dragging markers all over the place with copious amounts of runs in behind the back line in turn creating space for his fellow team-mates. York were always going to match Wanderers for effort and commitment, but one sensed the Coyle's men were always in the ascendancy. Gary Cahill was allowed to gallop forward unchallenged and hammered a drive that goalkeeper Michael Ingham did well to beat away only as far as Rodrigo, who after gazumping a defender with a marvellous piece of skill again extended the York stopper from close range.

But there was no way the home side could switch off and York still posed a threat with a couple of rare forays into Bolton's half. Rankine attempted an ambitious overhead kick that drifted with before sending one straight down Bogdan's throat from distance.

Coyle introduced Kevin Davies at the interval and he almost had an immediate impact after being release by Mark Davies but saw his effort canon off a defender and out for a corner. From that resulting kick Kevin Davies again diverted an effort goalward but saw it hacked off the line by Daniel Parslow.

It wasn't a good sign for the visitors early in the second period but they weren't deterred and remarkably carved out the best chance of the game. Neil Barrett header wide when unmarked from six yards out after an inch-perfect cross from Parslow from the left flank.

The away side were clearly buoyed by that guilt edge chance and their near 5,000 fans responded by upping the volume.

For the first time of the afternoon the game was well and truly in the balance as the away side began to grow in confidence. Mark Davies responded by linking up well with Rodrigo before fizzing an effort narrowly wide.

As the game went on an air of tension began to grow around the stadium. Robbie Weir tried his luck from all of 35 yards and Coyle responded by throwing on Johan Elmander and Matt Taylor in an attempt to break York's resistance.

But it was another substitute who made what was almost a telling impact. Peter Till raced away and clipped a perfect cross into Barrett who was denied by a top drawer save from Bogdan who somehow managed to turn the effort around the post.

But with just five or so minutes left on the clock Wanderers finally broke York's resilience. A ball into the box wasn't successfully dealt with by the visitors and Kevin Davies swivelled on the spot to smash the ball into the net off the underside of the bar.

It was cruel on York, but the result was made to look comfortable when Elmander plucked a crossfield pass out of the air before taking a couple of touches and arrowing an effort into the far corner. It was a moment of true brilliance from the Swede to cap a professional performance from the Whites.